Question to Valentine1 and the Response

[autobonrun]

Here's the email I sent to Valentine 1:
+++


Very infrequently I notice that the laser on my V1 activates with nothing around.

Tonight I happened to be behind a brand new Chevy TrailBlazer SUV. Everytime they pressed the brakes and the brake lights activated, my laser went full on. Brakes off, alarm off. I followed the SUV to make sure there wasn't something in front of it causing the activation. It did this without fail at least 5 times before I turned.

The only thing I noticed is the lights are very bright and may be laser cut. I've also had this false happen during the day.

I'm curious if you are aware of this problem and have you started on a fix?


+++
I was surprised that Mike Valentine responded. Here's what he had to say:


The interference from Trailblazers and Envoys is due to their use of a red neon Center-High-Mounted-Stop-Lamp. The red neon is excited by a pulsed power supply that operates in the same repetition rate range as a legitimate laser gun pulse train. The neon spectra contains plenty of near-infrared energy that the red colored lens lets pass without attenuation.

It's very difficult to get rid of the red neon signal without making some real laser guns go away, too.

Just to make your day, new BMW 3-series (E46) convertibles and Lincoln Mark VIII's do this, too.

Cheers,

Mike Valentine



+++

So, it looks like in addition to noise pollution, we now have light pollution to contend with. I was wondering if we'll be able to use the light pollution argument as a basis for arguing against laser gun speeding tickets. I would think it could cause some false readings.

But the V1 is still a great product and this problem, I'm sure, will not just limit itself to the V1 Laser Detection.

[cegerer]

Interesting. And great to get an honest reply right from the top!

On a similar note, has anyone else noticed those extremely bright red driving lights on the rear bumpers of the newer Olds Auroras??? What a huge distraction! It looks just like the brake lights are on continuously. -- Curt

[autobonrun]

I was also impressed that an honest answer came from the top. This is a reflection of the type of company involved.

I had a couple Escorts/Passports for 10 years. What finally made me switch to V1 was not just the improved performance, but also the fact that I could not reach anyone at Cincinatti Microwave to answer a simple question. They wouldn't pick up the phone or answer email. I'd stay on hold for 45 or more minutes and finally gave up and dumped their detector. When you need help, customer service can be as important as the product performance.

[Speedy1]

I wonder if anybody has tryed both V1 and the Escort at the same time to see if the escort lit up also???